🌿 Nurturing: The Care We’ve Been Waiting For

By Melissa Wilkes
Qualified Weight Loss & Emotional Eating Expert
Certified in Integrative Nutrition, GUT Health, NLP, Hypnotherapy, Embodiment Processing, Root Cause & Trauma-Informed Therapy

We give it so freely to others —
💞 checking in,
💞 cooking meals,
💞 remembering birthdays,
💞 holding space for emotions…

Yet somehow, nurturing ourselves gets left behind.
We show up for everyone else — but when it comes to us?
We’re often last on the list.
If we make it at all.

I know the feeling.

I could sense everyone’s needs and meet them beautifully…
But when it came to me?
I kept running on empty —
✨ emotionally eating to cope
✨ pretending I was fine
✨ hiding my exhaustion
✨ feeling burnt out and resentful

“I thought nurturing myself was selfish.
But the truth?
I was falling apart anyway.”

✨ The Shift That Changed Everything

One day, I decided to show up for myself the way I did for others.

Because here’s the truth:

“You can’t keep pouring from an empty cup and expect it to refill itself.”

And so began the softest, most powerful question of all:

“What do I need right now?”

💛 What Nurturing Can Look Like (for real women with real lives)

1. Speak to Yourself Kindly

We are so harsh with ourselves.
We say things in our head we’d never say to a friend.

Start noticing that voice and ask:
“Would I say this to someone I love?”
If not — change the script. Try:

“You’re doing your best.”
“You’re allowed to rest.”

It’s simple. And powerful.

2. Feed Yourself with Love

This isn’t just about food.
It’s about how you nourish yourself.

I began:

• Eating regularly

• Planning meals to support, not control

• Letting go of food guilt

• Asking: How does this make me feel?
  Energised? Grounded? Nourished?

That alone calmed my emotional eating.

3. Create Small Moments of Care

You don’t need an hour-long bubble bath (although go for it if you can).
You just need 5 minutes.

☕ A quiet tea
🌞 Sun on your face
🧘‍♀️ Three deep breaths
🎧 A favourite song

“Nurturing doesn’t have to be big.
It just has to be consistent.”

4. Ask: What Do I Need Right Now?

This one question changed everything.

When stress rises, when cravings hit, when I feel overwhelmed—
I pause and ask:
“What do I really need right now?”

Sometimes the answer is food.
But more often—it’s space.
It’s support.
It’s kindness.

💬 From Self-Criticism to Self-Compassion

This is the journey.
The return.
The remembering.

Nurturing yourself is not indulgent.
It’s necessary.

Especially if you want to:

• Lose weight

• Build confidence

• Reclaim a healthy relationship with food and body

Because when you’re cared for —
you don’t turn to food for comfort.
It becomes just that again:
food.

💗 Start Small. Start Soft. Start Now.

🌿 Sit still for five minutes
🍽️ Eat lunch without rushing
🪞 Look in the mirror and say:

“You’re allowed to be taken care of.”

Because you are.
You always have been.

You are not broken.
You are just overdue for some tenderness.

Big love,
Melissa xx

Melissa Wilkes
Weight Loss & Emotional Eating Expert
Empowering women to build healthier, more confident lives through holistic, trauma-informed approaches.